The Myth of Sisyphus and the Sublime - Stevie Hardwich

     Albert Camus wrote The Myth of Sisyphus in 1942. In this essay, he explains the Absurd as the need for humans to find meaning and a seemingly silent and meaningless universe. He uses Sisyphus as an example of an absurd life. Sisyphus is a Greek myth of a man punished by the gods to push a bolder up a mountain everyday only for it to fall every night, forever. Camus asks why, when facing the absurd, suicide is not the only answer. Another answer is to "imagine Sisyphus happy." If Sisyphus can be happy with his meaningless work and life, then so can we. When facing the absurd, you must find a way to be happy not in spite of but because of it. 

    I believe that Camus' Absurd is the same thing as the sublime. The Absurd is the realization of the chaos and meaninglessness of everything. The sublime is, as described in class, the "awe in awful." The Absurd is a part of the Sublime. It is an awful realization, and it is also incredible. 

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